Serena Williams Discusses Alexis Ohanian's Decision To Leave Reddit

Last week, Alexis Ohanian shared that he was stepping down from the board of directors of Reddit, which he co-founded back in 2005. In his announcement, Ohanian explained that a big part of his decision comes from wanting to make the world a better place for his daughter Olympia, who she shares with wife Serena Williams.

On Sunday (June 7), Ohanian sat down with Williams for a more in depth discussion about his decision to leave Reddit. They filmed their talk and shared it on Williams' Instagram account. "I thought about what I could do beyond a social media post, beyond a donation," Ohanian told his wife. “We need diversity at the highest levels of business now more than ever. Once I realized why I needed to do it, it became very easy.”

“At some point, Olympia is going to have to have a talk with you, a talk with us, but especially a talk with you, about how she’s going to have to work that much harder, how she’s going to have to deal with this much more, that pisses me off," Ohanian continued. "I’m sitting here like, if I’m this pissed off just now, like how have you been able to endure your entire life? How have generations of Black Americans been able to endure your entire life?"

Williams responded to her husband by telling him: "It's hard. It is definitely not easy. Like I said from the beginning, it’s something that unfortunately has become normal for us." Williams also cited her beliefs as the reason she's been able to endure and thrive in the face of systemic racism, saying "it really all just boiled down to my faith."

Williams also confrimed that it was not her idea for Ohanian to step down from Reddit. In a lighthearted moment, she joked that her husband "doesn’t listen to me, ever.”

Photo: Getty